HAUNTED
by Aphrodite-Venus-u.k
Summary: As the gang races to save Zoey's soul, Stark enters the Otherworld. Zoey is on a fragile line of living and dying. Her soul haunts those who love her and the Otherworld. Heath wants Zoey to return to her world; Stark vows to kill Kalona.


HAUNTED

Disclaimer: All characters belong to P.C. and Kristen Cast. The song "Haunted" was written by Taylor Swift. It is off her third album "Speak Now." I do not own anything.

Author's Note: This year my goal is to write a fanfiction for every song off Taylor Swift's album "Speak Now."

Summary: As the gang races to save Zoey's soul, Stark enters the Otherworld. Zoey is on a fragile line of living and dying. Her soul haunts those who love her and the Otherworld. Heath tries to convince Zoey to go back to her world. Stark vows to kill Kalona if Zoey agrees to return with him.

**Bold: Flashback**

Time: Burned

Genre: Drama, Romance, and Angst

Date Finished: February 1, 2011

Heath looked at Zoey. "You don't belong here."

Zoey eyed him. She looked so lovely, so innocent. In this world, she was so out of place. "What do you mean?" she whispered.

Heath turned his back to her. This was hurting him even more than it was going to hurt her. "You need to go." His next words would sting her heart. "I don't want you here."

Zoey was crying. "What do you mean?"

"You have to leave."

_You and I walk a fragile line _

_I have known it all this time _

_But I never thought I'd see it break _

_It's getting dark and it's all so quiet and I can't trust anything now _

_And it's coming over you like it's all a big mistake _

Stark couldn't believe it. Darius and Aphrodite were actually going to try to stop him. He thought that Darius would understand, but he was the one who was being difficult. For once, Aphrodite was being semi-understandable. At least she was trying. Darius, on the other hand, was pretty much telling him to move and get over it.

Just like the High Council.

Just like everyone else.

Stark didn't understand how life could go on. One of the most important, beautiful, and most glorious creatures ever to walk the earth was slowly closing in on death. The world should have stopped. Life for everyone should've changed.

He was ready to make the sacrifice. He was ready to give his life for his High Priestess. He loved her. She was his world. She had saved him. Now she needed saved. He would be the one. He would be the one to bring her back.

She haunted him. She was his ghost. She was something that he could never get out of his mind. She was the sweet thing that his armour protected. Sometimes her armour protected him.

Without her, he couldn't live.

Without her, he couldn't go on.

Yep, he was in trouble.

He was haunted.

_Oh, holding my breath _

_Won't lose you again _

_Something's made your eyes go cold _

Darkness and Light was a battle that man and vampyres had been battling ever since the dawn of time. It was a battle that these days people had forgotten about. One remembered.

Kalona eyed Neferet. He could see it had surrounded her.

"You must go after her, my love," Neferet whispered to him. She pressed against him. "She needs you."

Kalona stared out at the Italian skyline. Zoey would never come to him. She would turn her back on him. She would help bring him down.

He looked back at Neferet. He could see the Darkness that surrounded her. She shouldn't be Dark. Darkness shouldn't have embraced her like that. She was evil. She was just pure evil.

Yet, she fascinated him. She had a grip on him that only one other person had been able to do. She was the second person to ever to haunt him.

And it frightened him.

"I'll watch you," Neferet purred. "I wouldn't let any harm come to you."

Kalona nodded. He was only doing this to shut her up.

"What?" Zoey stood up. "You want me to go?"

Heath held his hands up. "No, I don't **want** you to go." He pulled her close. "You have to go."

Zoey curled up against him. "But you just said I had to leave!"

Heath sighed. Girls always made his life difficult. "Babe, you do have to leave."

Zoey was crying. "I want to stay here with you!"

Heath stroked her hair. "I know."

"You said you didn't want me here!"

"I didn't mean it."

Heath looked around the beautiful grove. Zoey was falling apart. Her spirit was no longer whole. Pieces of it were dancing around the grove. Floating through the trees, everywhere he looked there were pieces of her. This wasn't right. She wasn't met to haunt this world.

And it was hurting everyone.

_Come on, come on don't leave me like this _

_I thought I had you figured out _

_Something's gone terribly wrong _

_You're all I wanted _

_Come on, come on don't leave me like this _

_I thought I had you figured out _

_Can't breathe whenever you're gone _

_Can't turn back now _

_I'm haunted _

Stark was ignoring Seoras's speech. Yes, he trusted the Guardian. Yes, he understood the risks. He just wished that he would shut up and get to the point.

He also wished that Aphrodite would crawl in a hole and die. He didn't think that wish would come true. Hey, he could dream.

The Ancient Guardian made the first cut.

Stark was floating. He was out of his body and on his way to the Otherworld.

Kalona landed in the Otherworld. Right away, he could feel that he wasn't supposed to be here. However, he ignored these feelings. He was here on a mission.

He looked into the grove. He could see Zoey and the boy. He was holding her. She was crying. They were talking, but Kalona couldn't hear them.

"My love," Kalona whispered. "You will choose me."

"Heath, I need you," Zoey whispered to him.

Heath buried his face in her hair. "I know you do."

Loving her was a dangerous game. It was playing with fire. There was always someone else. First it was Erik, Loren, Stark, then Kalona (he guessed and still did), back to Erik, and Stark. He had been there through it all. He didn't like the other guys, but he loved her too much. He tried to live without her, but it didn't work.

Life was just too complicated.

"**Stark, shot her through the heart!" Neferet commanded him. **

**He eyed to quiver and bow in his hands. He knew what he had to do. **

**He looked at the other side where Zoey and her friends where. They were calling the elements. **

**He raised it and shot. **

**Straight for Zoey. **

**Zoey raised her arms and sent the elements toward him. The arrow came back too. Both slammed into his chest. **

**Stark fell to the ground. Pain was shooting through his body. He could see nothing but red. Fire, someone needed to put out the fire. **

**The red was gone. All he could see was the eternal darkness. Black surrounded him. **

That was the first mark he had taken for her. He was taking even more for her.

Stark looked at the gates to the Otherworld. He was so close.

_Stood there and watched you walk away from everything we had _

_But I still meant every word I said to you _

_He will try to take away my pain and he just might make me smile _

_But the whole time I'm wishing he was you instead _

"**How do you deal with guys?" Zoey casually asked. **

** Aphrodite sat up. "What 'd you mean?" **

** "How do you pick a guy?" **

** "Easy, pick the richest, cutest, and hottest." **

** "What?" **

** "You asked me how to pick a guy. Therefore, I answered the question on how I would pick a guy." **

** Zoey walked over to Aphrodite's largest dresser. She picked up a tube of lip gloss and began to play with the lid. "But how do you know if he's, you know, the one?" **

** Aphrodite raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow. "You mean the special one?" **

** "Um, yeah." **

** "Does this have anything to do with Erik, Heath, and Stark?" **

** "Maybe." **

** "Zoey, you're a crappy liar." **

** "Yeah, I guess it does." **

** Aphrodite stood up and went over to Zoey. She took the lip gloss off of her and put some on. "I don't know," she said as she looked into the mirror. "I just you just know that he's the one." **

** Thunder cracked from above. And it was still snowing. **

Aphrodite watched as the Warrior continued to cut Stark. She didn't think that Stark fully understood the risks when he agreed to this. He came across to her as someone who was more muscle than brain.

And Zoey needed all the help she could get. Even with her spirit together, she still hopeless. She had a terrible sense of fashion. She needed a lot of help when it came to guys.

"Do you think he'll come back?" Aphrodite asked Darius.

Her Warrior looked at Stark then at her. "His emotions are getting the best of him."

She shot Darius at look. "That didn't answer my question."

He smiled. "If he doesn't act too stupid, they may stand a chance."

"And if he acts stupid?"

"They're screwed."

She looked at Stark. "They are so screwed. He was way too f'ed up when he left."

"He's young and doesn't think."

Aphrodite smiled. "That's just Stark."

"Then, we are doomed."

Stark walked through the gates. He was in! All he had to do was find Zoey.

Everything was beginning to blend together. This wasn't right. Something was wrong.

"Stark," Aphrodite screamed at him.

Wait, this wasn't right at all.

He looked around. He was back at the Isle of Women. He saw the blood and the wounds, but he didn't feel it.

"Aphrodite," he hissed.

"Heath's the key," she said.

"Wh-What?"

"Get to Heath."

"Why?"

Before she could answer, Seoras cut his vision.

_Oh, holding my breath _

_Won't see you again _

_Something keeps me holding on to nothing _

Heath stared as more of Zoey fluttered away. This wasn't good. With every passing second, more and more of her was leaving him. Soon there would be nothing left of her, nothing for him to love, nothing for him to hold on to.

He watched her bounce around. She was like a child who had eaten too many sweets.

"Heath, I can't stay still," Zoey said. She sounded worried.

"That's because you're falling apart, Zo."

Zoey looked around at the ghosts of herself. It was like she was seeing them for the first time. They were following her around like zombies. They were dead; she would be dead without them. She watched them dance around the grove. They were taunting her, haunting her. The very thing that scared her the most haunted her: herself.

"You have to get yourself back together," Heath whispered.

Kalona watched Heath and Zoey. Zoey was still falling apart. In the last few minutes, he had seen three pieces of her spirit leave. She was becoming more ghostlike than human. She was dying. Her spirit was going to haunt this realm for forever.

_Come on, come on don't leave me like this _

_I thought I had you figured out _

_Something's gone terribly wrong _

_You're all I wanted _

_Come on, come one don't leave me like this _

_Can't breathe whenever you're gone _

_Can't turn back now _

_I'm haunted _

**Zoey sunk to the ground. **

** Stark grinned. "You know we could let him have Erik…" **

** Zoey shot him a look. **

** "I'm just saying. The vamp's kind of a jerk." **

** Zoey shook her head at him and stood up. "Come on." **

** "Where?" **

** "You have to go back to him." **

** Stark froze. "For what?" **

** Zoey eyed him. "He'll kill you if you don't." **

** "I've already died once." **

** "And that was too much." **

Stark reentered the Otherworld. He had to find Heath before he found Zoey. Heath had to leave. Until he did, Zoey would never come back. Until he did, Zoey would never heal. Until he did, Zoey would be broken.

He stepped into a tree line. Something didn't feel right. There was something or someone that wasn't supposed to be here. Being Stark, he didn't think on it for too long. He was on a mission.

He had to get his girl.

Slowly, Heath was realizing the truth. In order for Zoey to heal, he had to leave. He was the answer to the problem. He didn't want to leave her here by herself. Who knew what she might do.

"Heath," a brush hissed.

Heath looked behind it. "Stark, not you too!"

_I know, I know _

_I just know _

_You're not gone _

_You can't be gone _

_No _

Stark eyed Heath. "I'm not dead at least not yet."

"Well, technically you are."

"Was, not are."

Heath put his hands in his jeans. "Look, I already know what you're going to say. Zoey wouldn't leave until I do."

Stark looked relieved. "That just made my job a whole lot easier."

Heath looked back at the grove. "She's not going to be happy."

Stark took a deep breath. "I know."

Heath sighed. "Let's get this over with."

"Heath, don't leave me!" Zoey cried.

Heath kissed her. That didn't help much. "You've got to go back. You've got to kill Kalona."

"I don't have to do anything!"

Heath pulled her close. "We've just got to brave. Besides, it's time for me to move on."

"I'll always love you," Zoey muttered.

"I will too."

And he was gone.

Stark strolled over to Zoey. She was crying. Hard.

She looked up at him. "NO!" she screamed. She began to cry harder.

Stark knelt down next her. "I'm not dead. I've come to bring you home."

"That's good-the dead part I mean. I saw you die once and that was once too much." She paused. "I'm not so sure on the going home part though."

"Well, if you don't come back with me, Aphrodite's going to come here and kill both of us."

Zoey laughed. "Yeah, she would."

"Come back with me, Zoey," Stark whispered. "I can't live without you."

"Why?"

"You haunt me."

_Come on, come don't leave me like this _

_I thought I had you figured out _

_Something's gone terribly wrong _

_Won't finish what you started _

_Come on, come on don't leave me like this _

_I thought I had you figured out _

_Can't breathe whenever you're gone _

_I can't go back _

_I'm haunted _

Stark stood up. "You might not want to hang around here for long."

Zoey looked confused. "Why?"

"Someone's been watching you. Okay, more like stalking you."

"Who? Only the dead, eh certain people, can get in here."

Stark walked to the outside of the grove.

"Don't there's bad things out there!" Zoey cried.

"I'll kill him for you!" Stark cried.

"Who?"

"KALONA!" Stark screamed. "SHOW YOURSELF!"

A dark winged figure flew out of a tree.

Stark took a fighting stance. "You have messed with the wrong High Priestess."

Kalona seized Stark. "And what are you doing to do about it, boy?" He hit Stark. "Fight me?" He dropped Stark, who didn't get up. "You're just going to lose, boy."

"You're just going to lose," Kalona repeated.

_You and I walk a fragile line _

_I have known it all this time _

_But I never thought I'd see it break _

_Never thought I'd see it _


End file.
